Orion left by 7 am to pick up his lovely daughters and head up to Annwfn. Luckily he was able to take some of our stuff, sleeping bags and my carryon luggage. We never would have fit everything into Tina's car otherwise.
By the time it was packed there wasn't a lot of room in the back seat. I was quite cramped and found it hard on my knees but at least I had a ride and friendly traveling companions. We had to take Tina to get an exam and tests for a job before we could head up, as well as shop for some first aid items. Then we had lunch and finally we were ready to actually go. I found the whole thing quite frustrating. When I go for a trip I prefer to get ready and go. I don't like to stop along the way (although I enjoyed the rock shop). I don't like to stop for food because it always takes too long. I don't like to stop for restroom breaks other than when getting gas. I sure prefer not to shop in the middle. I think of reincarnation as a lot like this trip. At some level you choose your next life (or it chooses you) but you don't get to plan out all the details. And while you can get some of the good stuff you were looking for, a ride and friendly traveling companions, you have to take what comes with it. And I try to be philosophical about it - they were really sweet to take me and to go to the trouble for me. It isn't a big thing to put up with the side trips and delays. Is it?
On the way up we saw a trailer with a tree in the back. It looked like it was being hauled for planting. I thought it was a very interesting shape and couldn't place what kind of tree it was. Tina pointed out the nest in the branches. As we pulled closer we realized it was a sculpture made out of copper tubing. What fun! At a major slow down in traffic we were able to come up next to the towing vehicle and express our pleasure. He said it was part of a show and that it was a flaming, water fountain. I would have liked to have seen it working.
We stopped at a rock shop that Tina had never been in all the times she has passed it, and looked all around. It got later and I was thinking it would be dark before we were able to set up if we didn't get moving. When we got to Ukiah we bought lunch food as breakfast and dinners were provided by the festival. Unfortunately I spent way too much money. I could have done it for under $10 if I had been sensible about it. Money is a bit tight right now with Tom not having work for over a month. Luckily, he has another project but I don't know how long that is supposed to last, a couple of months I think but he won't make enough to make up for the lost income.
We got to Calpella and unloaded our gear while we waited for the shuttle. We had managed to get there a little early. It occurred to me to ask if they had arranged for the shuttle but they told me it wasn't necessary. You only had to call from the lower lot but I seemed to remember that there was a number and email address to use for just that purpose so I got out the flyer and read through it. When we saw that I remembered correctly we reloaded the car and got prepared to attempt to make it up to the lower lot. We began to drive away but they spotted a friend waiting in his car at the old meeting place so we got out again. Luckily he had arranged for a shuttle so we all waited.
When the shuttle driver arrived he was expecting one person and gear but Rich had brought Sam and then there was the three of us. We did get all the gear in but there just wasn't room for all of us. Rich offered to follow in his car now that it wasn't loaded down and I went with him. We set off and were soon driving up with drop offs on the passenger side of the very twisty road. I am not comfortable with heights - not actively afraid usually, just not comfortable. I kept pushing on the floor, to put the brakes on I guess. And I got more and more nervous. Rich was very sweet about it although he did do some gentle teasing. It is a good thing it wasn't raining or after dark as I might have been a basket case (then again not being able to see the drop off would have been a good thing for me but not for the driver.) At one point a truck passed by on the uphill side and Rich courteously moved more towards the edge so they could pass. That definitely scared me. He pointed out that he had not even gone on to the grass at the side that the tires were still on the road. Of course, that didn't really ease the fear. Finally we got to the lower lot turn off. He told me he was going to back down the road to the parking area and that perhaps I would like to get out and wait on the road. Good thinking:) I was rather impressed by his thoughtfulness. I got out but the shuttle driver came back and told him to go on to the turn around and come back down it forwards so he would have more braking power. That sounded scary to me, the idea of needing to have that extra braking power.
Once he parked we walked up a road called, Old Fluffy. It is a steep hill and we stopped often to let me catch my breath. Again Rich was very sweet. He said the kinds of things that I have said when doing the same kind of thing for others, reframing it so that he didn't appear to be doing me a favor at all, just taking care of himself. It turns out to be a fairly effective technique, while recognizing what he was doing I still felt better. Then there is the bonding of doing something together that is difficult so by the time we finally made it to the Goat House we were well on our way to being friends.
However, we weren't at the campsite yet. There was a trail that went back and forth across the hill face up to the camping area. By the time I got up there my knees were complaining and I was rather out of breath. But it did give me the opportunity to touch a lot of Madrone trees. They are really beautiful trees with bark that peels off to reveal the satiny smooth pinkish underbark like the naked flesh of a lover. I paused on my way up to caress them as I went by and felt a sense of welcome.
By the time we got our gear there it was getting late so we set up Tina and Pierce's tent first and left mine until later (well really theirs too.) We went to get dinner intending to set up right after but ended up visiting for a time. Rich sat with me around the bonfire for a bit and we flirted. It was well after dark before we set up my tent. Rich offered to help set up and truthfully ended up doing most of the work. Again he was quite charming and by this time I was feeling quite attracted to him, attracted enough that if he had indicated clearly, bluntly, that he wanted to sleep with me I probably would have though it is likely that I would have felt guilty the next day since he is young enough to be my son.
The other difficult aspect of camping at Annwfn is that the privy is for solid waste, anything else is done in the woods. With my knees I can't squat long enough to pee and I have some left over fears related to a nearly gone insect phobia. I am not at all happy with baring my privates to insects. Then there is poison oak and I didn't like the idea of getting it, let alone getting it somewhere important.
Lest all this talk of struggle, heights, and insects, should leave you thinking I didn't like Annwfn - it is an incredible place that defies words. There is a unique energy signature, in my opinion, perhaps made up of the love and magick people have brought to it, but certainly it is a sacred place of Gaia.
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind